philology lives

  "The story was told among the Hasidic Jews of Eastern Europe that disciples of a wise rabbi came to him to ask, "Rabbi, you teach us when we pray to say, ‘O God, you spoke and the world came to be.’  Rabbi, why should we not just say, ‘O God, you created the world?’  That would be simpler."
    The rabbi answered them, "We pray, "O God, you spoke and the world came to be,’ so that you may never underestimate the power of words to call whole worlds into being."
    By our words—the words we choose and the manner in which we speak them—we do call whole worlds into being.  We speak and construct a habitable world where people can grow and mature in strength and wisdom, or we speak in such a way that our world is small and mean, offering no space to grow, no room for forgiveness. ...Curses are common as dirt, but blessing is so rare."

- Patrick J. Wilson, 9/27/09 (full sermon here)